wagely's Playbook for Mass Market Fintech in Asia
wagely is Asia's leading financial wellbeing platform providing earned wage access in Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Amrita Vir, Head of Strategy & Business Expansion and Acting Country Manager at wagely and Sanjida Tanny, Lead of Community, and Communications, PR at wagely, recently joined us for an exclusive fireside chat organised by Bangladesh Women Investors Network where they talked about:
Their respective journeys into tech and fintech, including the inspiration provided by Bangladesh’s microfinance success
The initial vision and evolving operating model of wagely and the earned wage access product, and how it is an entry point for other future financial products for wage earners
Their thoughts on the Bangladesh ecosystem and market, especially as it compares to Indonesia
wagely recently raised $8.3 million in pre-Series A funding, led by East Ventures (Growth Fund), with participation from returning investors like Integra Partners, the Asian Development Bank, Global Founders Capital, Trihill Capital, Blauwpark Partners and 1982 Ventures. The raise will go towards fueling wagely’s expansion in Bangladesh, where it’s been operating for a year, and build other features to become a “holistic financial wellness platform."
This episode is also available on Spotify and Anchor.
About the speakers:
Amrita Vir has been in the financial inclusion space for over a decade, starting with founding a microfinance non-profit in college, serving as Chief of Staff at a global alternative data fintech, directing the first-ever US-based regtech TechSprint, and most recently, leading the driver lending business at Grab across 6 markets in Southeast Asia. Vir currently serves as Head of Strategy & Business Expansion, and Acting Country Manager at wagely, an earned-wage access fintech operating in Bangladesh and Indonesia. She is also host of The Green Room Asian Fintech Podcast and angel investor in women and financial inclusion oriented tech. Vir holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Sanjida introduces herself as caffeinated communicator, and an education advocate. Previously involved as Storytelling Lead at ShopUp, she was also involved in educating high-schoolers on entrepreneurship and 21st-century skills, through Young Founders School - a Hong-Kong based education platform. She has been involved with Bangladesh Brand Forum as the Head of Content. Today, Sanjida is involved with Asia’s fastest growing financial wellness platform, wagely, as the Lead of Community, and Communications, PR.
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